Last season’s Pacific Division standings ended up like the 2008 presidential election: competitive at first, predictable by the midpoint. Before culminating their playoff run with another NBA championship – the fifteenth in franchise history – the Lakers bullied their way to a 14-2 division record amid finishing the regular season with the same number of losses as the Kings di...

Sure the MLB regular season is progressively peaking and NFL training camps are now underway, but let’s not forget about the release of the 2009-10 NBA schedule, particularly from the standpoint of the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
When they begin their journey on Repeat Road this fall, the Lakers will undoubtedly get each opponent’s utmost effort for all 82 games because, ...

Some things in life are reasonably unfair. Others, like the Los Angeles Lakers re-signing Lamar Odom to a four-year, $33-million deal, are just cruel.
Even before Odom’s highly-anticipated decision to return to Los Angeles, the Lakers appeared as the favorite to emerge from the Western Conference following their acquisition of Ron Artest – seemingly an upgrade from the Houston-boun...

Physically gifted. Overwhelmingly versatile. In other words, the human IPhone.
And yet, amid the aforementioned, Lamar Odom remains team-less three weeks into 2009 free agency.
Still in his prime, the 29-year-old is caught in the middle of a tug-o-war between two teams that have undoubtedly flourished with L.O. wearing their respective jersey.
For the Los Angeles Lakers – who proposed a $...

Already into the second day of NBA free agency, here are some of the interesting unrestricted free agents:
Chris Andersen – “The Birdman” emerged in the 2008-09 season as a critical bench player (+13 efficiency rating) who displayed his knack for both ends of the floor. While he is more potent on defense a la his shot-blocking abilities (2.5 blocks per game), Andersen is also ...

Sometimes in sports it’s not about what one team did to win the game. Sometimes it’s about how the other guys let it slip out of their grasp, like an ice cube on a hot summer day.
Game 2 of the NBA Finals, in which the Los Angeles Lakers escaped from the Orlando Magic in overtime, 101-96, to preserve home-court advantage, was the ice that melted in Orlando’s hand.
“This ...

It was an all-out team effort that screamed “championship-caliber” and whispered “just three more.”
In the opening game of the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers drowned the Orlando Magic, 100-75, en route to seizing a 1-0 series lead and maintaing home-court advantage.
Despite trailing after the first frame, 24-22, Los Angeles went on to outscore Orlando 78-51 in the fi...

So the Finals are here – or at least they will be on Thursday. Sure, David Stern is probably sitting and sulking in the corner as his dreams of the orgasmic Kobe vs. LeBron matchup will have to wait another year at any rate, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t bask in this series sunlight.
There should be very little surprise that both the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando...

Numb legs. Heavy legs. A sore hip and groin.
Despite an arduous battle that all but depleted Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza—who combined to score 29 of Los Angeles’ 32 fourth-quarter points—the Lakers escaped Game 3 with a 103-97 road victory to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference finals.
“I couldn’t feel my legs one bit,” Bryant admitte...

1-4.
Entering the Western Conference finals, that was the Lakers’ playoff record when they were outscored in the opening quarter.
Los Angeles was dominated in the first quarter of those four loses, 103-66, and considering it trailed Denver 31-23 after one in Game 1, a fifth setback appeared imminent.
“We didn’t come out with the kind of energy that we wanted to,” Kobe Br...

So we're down to the final two — not to mention the top two — Western Conference teams: the Lakers and Nuggets.
For Los Angeles, it's been a helter-skelter road back to the conference finals for the second consecutive year: a five-game opening series against Utah, then a seven-game semifinals scuffle with Houston that appeared to be more of a setback than a step forward. ...

For questions and/or comments during the game, Twitter @jhoff89
5:48 pm PST – 57 min. until tipoffStill no word on who Phil Jackson will replace Derek Fisher with tonight — my guess is Jordan Farmar (as opposed to Shannon Brown) because Brown is playing at a much higher level than Farmar right now. You're probably thinking, “That's why you should start Brown,” ...